The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Frontier Region)

(0.003 Light years Away From Oreciuam Prime)

"I must say… Duke Peterlor's men are really quite impressive," Bishop Walsh whispered gently as he strode into the command room.

Several bodies lay unconscious on the floor with a heavy metalloid helmet attached to their heads.

The military uniforms on the unconscious bodies belonged to the unfortunate members of the Imperial Army unlucky enough to be chosen to escort the church to their assigned starship.

Bishop Walsh also recognised the metalloid devices as illegal memory modifiers

Those helmets were quite pricey and almost impossible to buy on the black market which made it obvious that Duke Peterlor had spared no expense.

Five cloaked figures were currently operating the starship while a red-haired woman sat in the captain's chair.

"I'm surprised that a man of God is so relaxed in the face of violence," Katarina smirked as she pointed her blade lazily at the muscular bishop.

Bishop Walsh let out a low chuckle as the veins covering his pale-skinned body wriggled and trembled under the light.

He shook his head twice and then pressed several buttons on his wrist communicator without saying a word.

The blood from the open wounds on his palms dripped steadily on to the ground and a foul metallic odour filled the air.

Fortunately, the blood droplets vanished mysteriously after a few seconds so there was no cleanup needed.

Katarina turned her attention back to the monitoring screen that displayed the current position of their starship.

The loud sounds of explosions and plasma cannon blasts could be heard faintly in the distance as they came closer to the battlefield.

This was not the first interstellar war that Katarina had experienced and it would most likely not be the last.

The 'Poison Witch' was a name that was feared and for good reason. Katarina absentmindedly glanced at the key-shaped device lodged squarely in the middle of the starship's AI storage unit.

The agreement between the Nephilim Church and the Imperial Army required the church to use spare vessels belonging to the military and take officers with them in order to oversee the process.

It was more of an annoyance than anything else but these officers still needed to be dealt with seriously for the purpose of their mission.

Katarina grinned as she remembered the look of shock on the officers' faces seconds before they fell unconscious due to her special concoction.

After the spying eyes had been taken care of, it was a simple matter to implant a rogue AI virus to infect the onboard AI unit.

Now the starship was completely under their command and the video-feed sent back to the Temporary Military Outpost was heavily modified.

The video-feed was not sent back instantly so the several minutes delay was enough to erase the footage of the guards falling unconscious.

Swoosh!

The metalloid doors leading to the command center swung open and the remaining members of the Nephilim Church came pouring in.

The demon knights neatly formed a line and stood silently along the walls of the command center.

Katarina frowned slightly as she saw the unholy runes engraved on their bodies pulsate with an eerie light.

The last person to walk through the door was the saintess in training. Rachel strode into the room with confidence and a strut in her steps.

Two angelic white wings sprouted from her back and the holy aura that surrounded her body made everyone in the room feel the urge to kneel down and worship.

Rachel's long curly black hair bounced playfully from side to side as she approached Bishop Walsh with a hopeful smile on her face.

"It's time," Rachel spoke quietly but there was a clear trace of excitement hidden in her voice.

She reached slowly into her pockets and pulled out a plain brown envelope that had clearly been opened already.

The Quafes girl lifted the already broken seal and pulled out another envelope from inside the first.

This envelope was a light cream white colour with tiny golden symbols engraved along the corners.

Written on the front of the envelope was a series of numbers along with a line of text.

Katarina narrowed her eyes and observed that these numbers represented a date and time that the envelope had to be opened.

Rachel tilted her wrist communicator upwards and checked the time. The wounds on Bishop Walsh's palms appeared to get worse as the blood that flowed out of his injuries darkened.

The cost of receiving a prophecy from the demonic temple was steep. Bishop Walsh had willing taken on the burden in order to protect his charge from suffering the averse side effects.

Rachel's upbeat mood instantly disappeared as she glanced at her guardian's hands but Bishop Walsh smiled kindly and whispered something in her ears.

It was time.

Rachel trembled slightly as she opened up the envelope to reveal what information was hidden inside.

A brief moment of silence formed as no one dared to even say a word.

Katarina placed down her dagger on the corner of the chair and focused solely on the thin piece of paper held in the young girl's hands.

"Um… it says…" Rachel hesitantly spoke.

"Thirty-seven, north sector quadrant, fifty-nine, northeast sector quadrant, sixty-seven…"

Katarina immediately pulled up a map of the battlefield and began to input the numbers that were read out from piece of paper.

Rachel's voice filled the room as Katarina hurriedly continued to map and trace out the directions with great urgency.

It took around seven minutes for the last coordinate to be read out. Rachel cleared her throat nervously and then stared at the red-haired woman who was still typing out commands.

Katarina pressed a button on the side of the captain's chair and soon an enormous holographic projection appeared in the center of the room.

This was a star map which showed the entire frontier region with in-depth details involving the location of planets, stars, and points of interest.

However, there were a few noticeable regions that were dark which meant that the information available was lacking.

Katarina pressed another button and soon a thick red line appeared on the star map. It was the route constructed after inputting the numerous coordinates written on the envelope.

Unfortunately, the final destination was an area behind planet Oreciuam Prime that was entirely dark.

"Direct all available power to the starship's defense systems and follow the route on the map exactly," Katarina ordered firmly.

The death guards in charge of piloting the vessel immediately followed her commands and a low humming noise could be heard.

Rachel slowly walked towards Katarina and handed over the envelope so that she could double check that every coordinate was correct.

Katarina checked the lines of text carefully and made sure that there was no mistake. This entire rescue mission could not go wrong.

Failure was not an option.

She would make sure that Sophie returned home safely…

Not matter the cost.